Headlamp assemblies for motor vehicles are very well-known in the art of automotive design. In virtually all motor vehicles, one of a pair of headlamp assemblies is mounted on either side of and forward on the motor vehicle to provide illumination of the roadway ahead and visibility of the motor vehicle to others. However, such placement of the headlamp assembly often places the headlamp assembly at risk of damage during impact events involving the frontal portions of the motor vehicle.
Further, insurance ratings for a specific vehicle, especially in Europe, are based on the extent of damage, the ease of repair of any damaged parts, and the overall repair cost of a motor vehicle having been involved in a low speed impact event. One such low speed impact event to be considered in designing modern motor vehicles is an impact with a rigid barrier at 15 kph, where the rigid barrier is angled at 10° and offset 10% from the centerline of the vehicle with 40% overlap with the vehicle. In this impact mode, it is desirable to mitigate and minimize damage to the integrated front vehicular structures and systems, such as the front rail, side fender panels, cooling system, grill opening reinforcement structure, and shotgun, as well as maintain the gap between side fender and front occupant door panels. Repair of these parts involves expensive procedures and hence results in unfavorable insurance ratings, which may negatively impact customers' purchasing decisions and overall experience with their chosen motor vehicle.
As a consequence of this low speed offset impact event, it is therefore desirable to contain damage to only the front fascia, front bumper system assembly, front hood, grill assembly, and headlamp assembly, all of which may be relatively easily unbolted from the main vehicle body and replaced after minor repairs to the vehicle itself. The headlamp assembly, typically manufactured from polycarbonate plastic and/or polypropylene materials, is located in the crush zone. In at least one common motor vehicle design, the headlamp is attached at its front portion to the fender or other vehicle structure, such as the grill opening reinforcement structure, and at its rear portion to the shotgun. Thus, the headlamp assembly often interacts with the fender and shotgun.
Ideally, the headlamp assembly merely deforms and fractures in such low speed impacts. However, it has been found that undesirable headlamp interaction increases if the headlamp assembly is longer and is oriented further toward the side of the vehicle, as is the case with emerging styling trends in the automotive industry. That is, the rear portion of such headlamp assembly designs tends to move rearward, upward, and outward during low speed impact events. In order to minimize damage to adjacent components, past practice has resulted in the design of the attachment points and methods of the headlamp assembly to the motor vehicle to intentional “break” or otherwise separate in order to prevent higher compressive loads from being transferred to the side fender panel and shotgun, thus avoiding damage to the same. Yet, due to the geometry of the longer headlamp assemblies mounted further to the side of the vehicle, increased interaction of the headlamp assembly with the side fender panel and shotgun becomes inevitable in the low speed offset impact event. This enhanced interaction can damage the side fender panel and shotgun. Furthermore, enhanced rearward motion of the fender, due to loading from the headlamp, can result in rearward displacement of the side fender panel and closing the gap between the side fender panel and the front occupant door panel and interfere with the operation and opening of the occupant door. Hence, a headlamp assembly design which overcomes these drawbacks would be advantageous.
The headlamp assembly disclosed herein particularly accomplishes the foregoing by adapting the present typical motor vehicle headlamp assembly described above by attaching a first top end of an anchor cable to a rear portion of the headlamp assembly and attaching a second lower end of the same to the nearest possible location on the vehicle body structure. This anchor cable attachment restricts the motion of the rear portion of the headlamp assembly in all three directions (rearward, upward, and outward). The restricted motion of the headlamp assembly eliminates or greatly reduces the interaction of headlamp with the surrounding components, such as the side fender panel and shotgun. This helps eliminate the damage to adjacent components and restrict rearward motion of the side fender panel, which in turn minimizes gap closure between the side fender panel and the front occupant door panel.
Thus, the solution presented by the present disclosure is a relatively low-cost, add-on anchor cable that reduces damage by restricting the rearward, upward, and outward displacement of a rear portion of the headlamp assembly and, in turn, rearward displacement of the side fender panel. The solution thus reduces the interaction of the headlamp assembly with the surrounding components during impact events.